Harbor funds bring finish within view

To deepen a harbor, you need money enough to fill a trench before you dig it.

Savannah’s deeper channel now overfloweth.

The federal government’s commitment of $130 million in the next budget cycle, which begins this September, means the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, or SHEP, should be done on schedule in 2021. The outer channel is done, stretching 18 miles into the Atlantic Ocean from the mouth of the Savannah River near Fort Pulaski National Monument.

Crews are preparing to dredge the 22-mile inner harbor ending at the the Georgia Port Authority docks in Garden City, the final stage of the project.

The federal outlay more than covers the annual deepening costs of up to $110 million. And unlike last year, when funding came from a combination of the federal budget, the Army Corps work plan and the state coffers, the new money comes from a single source.

Georgia’s congressional leaders deserve our gratitude for their advocacy of the project.

Sen. Johnny Isakson has has served on Capitol Hill since 1999 and has lobbied on behalf of the deepening since SHEP was in the study phase. Sen. David Perdue, through his close relationship to President Donald Trump administration, has ensured the dig remains a top priority.

Isakson and Perdue leveraged another advantage in securing the most recent dollars: The White House budget office owed them one. Isakson told an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter on Tuesday about an informal agreement involving port money and the confirmation of the budget office's top deputy, Russell Vought.

Georgia's senators supported Vought's nomination last year on a vote that ended in a tie. Vought was then confirmed when Vice President Mike Pence cast the deciding vote, handing Isakson and Perdue a chit to play at budget time.

"We found mutual ways to help each other," Isakson told the Atlanta newspaper.

Credit also Congressman Buddy Carter, who represents Coastal Georgia. He talks up the port the way a new parents does his or her children — fondly and frequently. The state’s other House reps regularly campaign and promote the deepening, as well, realizing the economic impact statewide, particularly with the growth of inland ports.

The Georgia Ports Authority operates facilities in Cordele and Crandall, with another location soon to open in Gainesville, as well as the ocean terminals in Savannah and Brunswick.

While we thank our elected officials, let’s remember securing port money is about more than politicking. State officials, the GPA and, most importantly, the hundreds of thousands of Georgians who work port-related jobs have made our ports the most attractive on the East Coast.

Georgia’s ports are hailed as the most efficient in the U.S., and consistent investments and strategic planning will keep us out front. Our neighbors in Charleston and Jacksonville have their own deepening projects, but the strong fiscal support for Savannah speaks to where trade and infrastructure experts see the highest "economic return to the nation.”

And with the latest investment, we'll see the results sooner rather than later.

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